You know, it's great that we can send billions of dollars to open humanitarian regimes like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria for their oil. Every time I fill up at the pump, I swell with pride at the thought of women being stoned to death and Hugo Chavez constantly reminding us how evil we are.
When are we going to get serious about energy independence and stop sending our money to support tyrants and people who hate us? Obama rejecting Keystone XL only furthers this trend. Who would you rather your money go to: Canada or a country where it is illegal for women to drive.
And turning food into fuel is not the answer. Food prices have skyrocketed as larger and larger amounts of corn are used to make auto ethanol. I personally believe that a shotgun approach of cellulosic ethanol, biodiesel, natural gas, efficiency, electric vehicles and domestic conventional oil are the only way to fix our oil trade debt problem.
I love fresh air, clean soil, and fresh water as much as the next person, but some people believe that if you as much move a freakin' rock without some agency's permission, you are damaging the environment.
ReplyDeleteFor the life of me, I cannot understand why Obama rejected the Keystone pipeline...but then again, his decision has unfortunately 2012 presidential politics written all over it, despite the environmental reasons he 'supposedly' gave out.
This $7 billion project is "shovel-ready" and would immediately produce an estimated 20,000 well-paying jobs in THIS country...not to some foreign entity that hates us! I guess Obama didn't want to offend the environmentalists of his party's left...BTW, a key fund-raising and voting bloc.
I understand that. I understand the politics coming from his own party because he is going to need every vote he can get. Have you seen his numbers (and the country's numbers) since he took office?
Anyways, Obama's attempts to cover this self-evident situation with a variety of enviromental concerns are utterly disingenuous. Everything I have read about enviromental "concerns" have been exhaustively addressed and satisfied. Keep in mind, this is not nearly as difficult as when we built the Alaskan pipeline during the 70's. Talk about a tactical nightmare! But wait...it succeeded and the impact on the enviroment? NOTHING! If you have heard anything negative on Alaska's enviroment in these nearly 40 years, please let me know! I haven't.
Well...this decision to delay this job creating project is a calculated bet for Obama. He sure doesn't want to alienate his green base, so he would rather put off this mega-construction project which is a step in the direction of reaching eventual national energy independence while lessening exposure to resources controlled by unstable governments...you know, those same people that instruct husbands how to BEAT their wife(s)...and not allow them to drive automobiles!
Postponement of a decision on the Keystone pipeline is an opportunity missed for Obama to actually create REAL needed jobs and enhance energy security...and independence.
He made a shortsighted call so stay tuned till November!